McDonald's is trying to be more like Chick-fil-A

McDonald's is premiumizing
its menu with items like the Premium Chicken
Selects.McDonald's

McDonald's has been rolling out upgrades to its chicken over the
last couple months in an attempt to better compete with rivals
like Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A, which last year
surpassed KFC to become the No. 1 chicken chain in the US, is
touted as the "home of the orginal chicken sandwich." The chicken
it serves is fresh — never frozen — and it's hand-breaded in
restaurants.

McDonald's, on the other hand, uses chicken that is flash-frozen
in factories and shipped to restaurants, where it's finished off
in a fryer or on a grill before being served to customers.

McDonald's is now testing a more upscale fried chicken
recipe, according to investment firm Janney Capital
Markets.

The new Buttermilk Crispy Chicken "is made with real
buttermilk and will be cooked in the same fryer as McDonald’s
other fried chicken menu items including Chicken McNuggets," the
company says.McDonald's is testing a
new Buttermilk Crispy Chicken.Janney
Capital Markets

McDonald's also revealed this month that it's removing a number
of hard-to-pronounce ingredients from the grilled chicken used
for sandwiches and wraps, and renaming it "Artisan Grilled
Chicken."

The change follows the company's decision to reintroduce Premium
Chicken Selects, which cost $2.99 for a three-piece order,
compared with $1.99 for a four-piece Chicken McNugget
order.

The Premium Chicken Selects
aremade from whole
pieces of chicken tenderloin that are breaded and fried, whereas
McNuggets are made from ground chicken meat.

"All of this fits in with
McDonald’s attempts to improve itself – to be essentially a
better McDonald’s than it has been as of late," Janney Capital
Markets analyst Mark Kalinowski wrote in a recent research
note.

It's a strategy that might just work for McDonald's, writes
retail analyst Brian Sozzi on
The Street.

"Wall Street may be starting to take notice of McDonald's focus
on premium offerings," Sozzi writes. "By attracting a new
clientele or upselling loyal, lower-income customers, the fast
food chain could start to reverse months of sluggish sales in the
U.S."